Nantes - the hub of western France

The most westerly of the big cities in France, Nantes is one of those
cities that is not on the road to anywhere else. At least that it the
situation today; in the past it was very different.
Until the nineteenth century, Nantes was one of
the most important port cities in France. In the Middle Agers, it was
one of France's
greatest ports for trade with other parts of Europe, notably with
England and Portugal ; later it was the gateway to North America, the
port through which came in and went out a good proportion of France's
international trade, not just with Canada, Acadia and the nascent USA,
but also with the Caribbean and other parts of the world.
And then ships got bigger and railways made land
transport faster and easier and Nantes, just like Bristol in the UK,
found itself "up the creek", too far inland along a tidal estuary to
meet the new demands of international shipping. And, as with Bristol or
even - more recently - London and other cities, Nantes' riverside port
activity dwindled and the city's economic significance fell, as
business moved downstream, in this case to Saint Nazaire, at the mouth
of the Loire.
By that time however, Nantes was already too
strongly established as a city, and too big, to fade away. In bygone
centuries, the city that stood guard over the lowest bridging point
across the Loire had been the capital of the powerful Dukes
of Brittany, and the city had grown up around their massive fortress
close to the water's edge, the chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. Later, as
France became one of the great colonial powers of Europe, trade brought
great wealth to the city which grew in size and influence. The
merchants of Nantes, like their counterparts throughout the great
European port cities of the time, were active in the slave trade with
the Americas, which was one of the businesses that enriched the city in
the 18th century, until after the French Revolution when in 1794 France
was the first European nation to ban slavery in all its dominions.

Panoramic
view of the Place Royale in the centre of Nantes

Today, Nantes is the eighth largest city in
France, with a population of over 600,000 in the urban area. The historic part of the
city stands on the north bank of the Loire, around the confluence of
the river Erdre. The meeting of the two rivers is not however a
feature, as back in the 1930s the lower end of the Erdre was filled in
to make more room in the city centre, and the river now flows out into
the Loire via a canal tunnel.
Apart from its medieval / Renaissance
castle, which now houses the city's museum, and the late medieval
cathedral of St. Peter and St.Paul, the historic centre of Nantes is
largely characterised by streets and buildings that were put up in the
period of the city's commercial heyday, from the late 17th century to
the early 19th century. This helps to give Nantes a slight
Parisian feeling - like a small version of Paris in the west of France.
The once busy port area of Nantes is now very
quiet; the little commercial shipping that still comes up the Loire as
far as Nantes uses wharves on the south side of the Loire or on the
western outskirts of the city, and the few cruise liners that make it
up the Loire estuary have to dock well away from the centre. The Quai
de la Fosse, closest to the city centre, has no commercial shipping,
but is served by pleasure craft and is home to some historic ships,
including the Maillé-Brézé, a historic warship and naval museum.
Today, more than a port, Nantes is the
administrative and commercial hub of northwestern France. The city that
was until the 16th century the capital of Brittany is now no longer
part of Brittany; the department of Loire Atlantique, of which it is
the capital, was definitively hived off from Brittany under the Vichy
government during the second world war, and has since become the
capital of a new administrative region - with little historic basis -
the Pays de la Loire, created in 1963. In that respect, Nantes remains
a regional capital... but no longer the capital of Brittany. That is
now Rennes.

Tourist attractions
in Nantes

Nantes is a big city, but
its historic central area is compact enough to be discovered on foot.
or by taking the city's smart modern trams. the main tourist
attractions are :

The Chateau
of the Dukes of Brittany -
a renovated medieval castle which today includes the history museum.

The cathedral
- Although it is not regarded as one of France's greatest cathedrals,
the late medieval gothic cathedral at Nantes is impressive,
particularly on the inside. It is the sixth tallest cathedral in
France. Damaged during the second world war, and later by a fire in the
1970s, it has been fully renovated to its early splendour.

Dinner cruise on the Erdre

The river Erdre.
a boat trip or a dinner cruise on the Erdre is a must. Trips take
visitors ten to fifteen kilometres up the river, which is bordered on
either side by an impressive number of small châteaux and manor houses
built for rich merchants at the time of Nantes' great prosperity.

The Nantes
Art Gallery. In terms of the range of its
collection, this is one of the better provincial art galleries in
France. It includes works by Bernardo Daddi, Breughel the elder,
de Latour, Perugino, Tintoretto, Ingres, Burne-Jones, Corot,
Monet, Sisley, Picasso and many more.

Place Royale.
the grand urban piazza dating from the late eighteenth century, when
the prosperity of the city was at its peak. Now part of the pedestrian
area of central Nantes, the piazza is popular for its cafés and shops.

Passage
Pommeraye. A fine 19th century covered shopping
arcade, decorated with classical statues, and home to many up-market
stores and boutiques.

Maillé-Brézé.
A T47 class naval destroyer, decommissioned in 1988, the Maillé-Brézé
is now a museum ship. She was temporarily absent from Nantes in
the spring of 2016, when she was used in the film Dunkirk.

Jules Verne
museum. Museum devoted to the life and work of
the great 19th century writer and traveller, author of Around the World
in Eighty Days and many other popular novels

Les Machines
de l'Ile. Popular family destination, a museum
filled with fantastic modern machines, including a mechanical walking
elephant that carries passengers on a ride round the site. Website.

Places
to
visit near Nantes

Salterns or salt pans near
Guérande

The Pays de la Loire
region is a popular but not overrun holiday destination, on account of
its variety of attractions, including some of the best Loire châteaux,
vineyards and - in the west - a small part of France's Atlantic
coastline.
The Loire Atlantique department,
around Nantes, covers the western end of this region, including the
estuary of the Loire and the coast to the north and the south.

Planète
Sauvage - 20 km southwest of Nantes. One of the largest
safari parks in France, covering about 180 acres or 80 hectares.

The Château
de Goulaine, A
small Loire valley château and vineyard that is reputedly the oldest
family-owned business in Europe. Today the castle is also home to a
large butterfly houe and to the Lu Biscuits museum, Lu being a historic
French brand in the same way as MacVities in the UK.

Abbey church
of St Philibert de Grandlieu. 30 km south of Nantes. One
of the oldest churches in France, the nave dating from the time of
Charlemagne (9th century) . Decorative stone and brickwork in the Roman
style.

The Jade Coast
- attractive coastline to the south of the mouth of the Loire, around
the small seaside resort of Pornic.

Guérande.
Small medieval town still enclosed in ramparts. the town is a
popular tourist destination, and is particularly know for its historic salt industry.
Guérande natural sea salt, le Sel de Guérande, is sold in delicatessens
and specialist outlets throughout France and well beyond.

La Baule, Le
Crosic, Pornichet. Popular seaside
resorts just to the north of the Loire estuary. La Baule was created
from nothing in the late 19th century as an up-market seaside resort
for Parisians. Today it is known, like Cannes or Deauville, for its
casino, its four and five-star hotels and its film festival.